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This course introduces students to the fundamentals of speaking, listening, reading and writing in modern Mandarin Chinese. Come practice basic conversation, learn how to write Chinese characters and begin to read Chinese. Classroom work includes dialogue practice and performance of Chinese…
Emphasis on listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students will learn grammar, Hiragana and Katakana characters, and about 80 Kanji characters. All lessons include Japanese culture notes. Course also includes conversation sessions and character recognition and pronunciation exercise…
Pronunciation, grammar, particles, basic sentence construction and sentence patterns. Reading and writing in Hangul, the national writing system.
Develops all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Introduces the phonetic system and the Vietnamese script. Fifteen dialogues contain situation-based conversations which introduce basic vocabulary and grammar. Each lesson contains several culture notes about the…
A continuation of Elementary Chinese I.
Equal emphasis on listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students will learn grammar and 120 Kanji characters. Lessons include Japanese culture notes as well. The course also includes conversation sessions and character recognition and pronunciation exercise sessions on computers.
As a continuation of Elementary Korean I, this course focuses on pronunciation, grammar, particles, basic sentence construction and sentence patterns. Reading and writing in Hangul, the national writing system.
A continuation of Elementary Vietnamese. Develops all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Introduces the phonetic system and the Vietnamese script. Another fifteen dialogues contain situation-based conversations which introduce basic vocabulary and grammar. Each…
Development of fundamentals of Chinese speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Emphasis will be placed on gaining basic linguistic competence in order to travel and study in a Chinese- speaking setting.
Understanding Chinese culture through exploring common situational dialogues in Chinese.
Fundamentals of the Swahili language and culture. Emphasis on grammar, pronunciation, reading, writing, and conversational skills. Additional laboratory work required.
Foundation in spoken and written Yoruba. Focus on oral and aural skills, basic grammar. Additional laboratory work required. Introduction to Yoruban culture.
A continuation of Elementary Yoruba I. Increased focus on grammar and culture, reading and conversation.
A continuation of Elementary Swahili I. Emphasis on register variation, advanced grammar, and culture.
Japanese language course with focus on reading, writing, speaking, and understanding Japanese for students beyond the beginning level.
Intermediate grammar, reading, conversation, and composition.
Equal emphasis on listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students will learn grammar and about 140 Kanji characters. All lessons include Japanese culture notes as well. The course also includes character recognition and pronunciation exercise sessions on computers.
Pronunciation, grammar, particles, sentence construction, and sentence patterns. Declarative, interrogative, propositive, and imperative speech styles. Reading and writing in Hangul, the national writing system.
Conversational fluency, orthography, and grammar.
A continuation of Intermediate Chinese I.
Equal emphasis on listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students will learn grammar and about 160 Kanji characters. All lessons include Japanese culture notes as well. The course also includes character recognition and pronunciation exercise sessions on computers.
As a continuation of Intermediate Korean I, this course focuses on pronunciation, grammar, particles, sentence construction, and sentence patterns. Declarative, interrogative, propositive, and imperative speech styles. Reading and writing in Hangul, the national writing system.
A continuation of Intermediate Vietnamese. Further develops conversational fluency, understanding of orthography, vocabulary, grammar, and culture.
Focus on developing fluency in spoken and written Yoruba. Oral work geared towards building effective communication in day-to-day situations and functional tasks. Readings in authentic Yoruban texts of increasing complexity. Advanced cultural discussion.
Practice in Mandarin Chinese conversation, reading, and writing skills.
Concepts integrating literature and the fine arts through lectures, seminars, individual research or projects, and writing.
Introduction to complex linguistic and cultural structures, role of culture in language learning, reading and writing of literary texts, social history of the language.
Fundamentals of Chinese language and culture.
A continuation of Intermediate Swahili I. Introduction to literary texts, poetry, newspapers and magazines, and everyday language use.
A continuation of Intermediate Yoruba I. Introduction to additional literary texts, including poetry, newspapers, magazines.
The history, physical environment (landforms, vegetation, and climate), and sociocultural environment (artistic, political, and social development) of Africa.
World literature from antiquity to the seventeenth century.
Western World Literature from Homer to the seventeenth century.
World literature from the seventeenth century to the present. WORLD LITERATURE 1 IS NOT A PREREQUISITE.
Western World Literature from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. No prerequisite
Western World Literature from Homer to the twentieth century.
Western world literature from the seventeenth century to the twenty-first century.
Works of literature by Asian-American writers, including works written in English and translations of works originally written in Asian languages.
Works of literature by Asian-American writers, including works written in English and translation of works originally written in Asian languages.
A comparative study of ethnic literatures in the United States, including African-American, Arabic-American, Asian-American, Hispanic-American, Jewish-American, and Native-American literatures.
Multicultural literature of the world-wide dispersion of Africans and people of African descent based on select representative works of African-American, African-Caribbean, and African literature.
The literature of the world-wide dispersion of Africans and people of African descent based on selected representative works of African-American, African-Caribbean, and African literature.
Issues of immediate interest to future doctors and psychologists and to anyone concerned with the role of medicine in modern life: empathy, illness, suffering, death, dialogue, relationships, and the power of the human story. The medium is literature and art, but the aim is interdisciplinary: a…
The major literary works of ancient India up to the medieval period.
This course focuses on building an advanced-level vocabulary and grammar knowledge in Korean for a variety of verbal and written communications.
Advanced readings, novels, thematic texts, and rhetoric. Focus on developing comprehension of textual materials. Introduction to scientific and other specialized materials.
As a continuation of Advanced Korean I, this course focuses on building an advanced-level vocabulary and grammar knowledge in Korean for a variety of verbal and written communications.
A continuation of Advanced Vietnamese I.
An introduction to Vietnamese literature, including Vietnamese newspapers, poetry, short stories, folk literature, and excerpts from classical and modern Vietnamese writings.
Exploration of the aspects of Swahili literary history and civilization. It will provide knowledge of East Africa (not explored in regular language classes) through geography, history, political, and economic structures. The main focus will be on critical readings on Swahili literature, history…
Advanced grammar, reading, conversation, and composition.
Research methods in the Arts and Humanities to enhance directed study participation and Honors thesis/project preparation.
Equal emphasis on listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students will learn grammar and about 220 Kanji characters. All lessons include Japanese culture notes as well. The course also includes character recognition and pronunciation exercise sessions on computers.
Designed to prepare students to travel to Nigeria and for research using authentic research materials. Study of geography and of political and economic structures of Nigeria and West Africa. Focus on reading Yoruban texts.
An exploration of Swahili culture in contemporary literary texts; a discussion on how literary texts about the Swahili language and its speakers are used to manifest the culture and how external influences affect the indigenous Swahili culture. Readings of novels from the target country,…
A continuation of Advanced Chinese I.
Equal emphasis on listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students will learn grammar and about 270 Kanji characters. All lessons include Japanese culture notes as well.
Overview of African languages and cultures, their diversity and similarities. Critical approach to discourses on Africa.
Historical and thematic treatment of fictional speculation about scientific matters from the dialogues of Plato to the contemporary science fiction of Vonnegut.
Comparative study of the self as presented in literature of the first person (such as lyric poetry and autobiography) with particular emphasis on questions of genre, rhetoric, and poetics.
A survey of fiction films on distinct characteristics of Korean culture. A wide range of works on spiritual traditions and material culture in Korea will be examined, but the main emphasis will be on films inspired by literature, visual arts, music, and performing arts in the modern and pre-…
World literature represented by women writers from the seventh century B.C. through the seventeenth century A.D.
The literature of twentieth-century Africa in translation with emphasis on the African novel.
The study of selected representative African plays of the colonial and post-independence periods.
A discussion of twentieth-century literary works (emphasis on narrative and drama) dealing with the reinterpretation of ancient classical myths, inclusive of English, American, Italian, French, German, and Russian Literatures.
The evolution of the mystery story in the United States, England, and Europe, based on readings from such masters of the genre as Poe, Doyle, Christie, Simenon, Hammett, Chandler, et al. All readings in English.
Cultures of China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, with emphasis on the formation of Chinese culture and its diffusion and variation within the other national groups.
Literary approach to the study of myth in culture.
Selected works of contemporary world literature, with emphasis on works from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
The exploration of a culture's conceptions of nature--and the social implications-- through examination of texts of literature and other discourses. Course may focus on either Western or non-Western societies.
This course addresses issues related to women in East Asia from comparative perspectives by examining how they are represented and how they choose to represent themselves in literary texts, film, and sociological material.
The Roma tribes of Central and Eastern Europe, including their cultures, customs, languages, literature, and music.
Anti-semitism and anti-Roma sentiments and practices in Central and East Europe. How the European Union is addressing this problem and future prospects for these minorities at risk.
Survey of historical fiction from its origins through contemporary developments, including analysis of shifts in the relations between world history and literature during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Selected works written for children from antiquity through the twentieth century. Special emphasis on historical, cultural, religious, social, and linguistic contexts.
This online course examines selected works written for children from antiquity to the nineteenth century. Special emphasis on historical, cultural, religious, social, and linguistic contexts.
Independent study and research in Swahili language and literature under the direction of individual faculty members. Focus on reading and analysis of Swahili literary writings (including works in translation).
Independent study and research under the direction of individual faculty members.
The student undertakes an in-depth study of Korean language, literature, and culture in consultation with a faculty member.
Independent study and research in Yoruban language and literature under the direction of individual faculty. Focus is on reading and analysis of Yoruban literary texts (including works in translation from Yoruba-speaking communities in Africa and the Diaspora).
Introduction to the language, life, and culture of Yoruba- speaking people in West Africa and other parts of the World.
Students will be able to speak, comprehend, read, and write business Korean and will also be able to understand Korean business culture through classroom activities, field trips, and homework assignments based on authentic material.
A continuation of Business Korean.
The methods and literary theories encompassed by the discipline of Comparative Literature.
Selected problems in the Humanities which have special or current relevance to members of the University community. Topics will vary to meet interest and demand.
The capstone course for the undergraduate major in comparative literature, focusing on a particular theme, methodology, theory or problem.
Literary and philosophical texts of various historical periods that trace changes in how human beings understand their non-human environment.
Literature of Western Europe (Italian, French, Spanish, Germanic, and English) 1450-1600, with emphasis on literary types and prevailing ideas.
The rise and development of Romanticism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with reading of selected literature and criticism.
Early Romanticism: 1750–1830, with readings of selected literature and criticism.
Middle to late romanticism: 1820 -1900, with readings of selected literature and criticism.
Lyric poetry from the mid-nineteenth century to the present.
Literary forms and issues in Europe ca. 1550-1700, with special attention to the intellectual background and the interrelationships between literature and other arts and sciences.
An introduction to classical Chinese focusing on translation, analysis of grammar, and the semantic range and use of commonly occurring classical Chinese words. Readings include selections of the early classics through later imperial literature.
The literatures of medieval Europe with emphasis on major literary genres and the philosophical and social presuppositions which inform them.
A continuation of Advanced Japanese II, with emphasis on improved proficiency in the four language skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening, and concentration on the reading of literary texts in Japanese.
A continuation of Advanced Chinese III focusing on translation, analysis of grammar, and the semantic range and use of commonly occurring classical Chinese words. Readings include selections of the early classics through later imperial works.
The literature of England, France, and Germany in the eighteenth century, with emphasis on literary types and prevailing ideas.
A continuation of Advanced Japanese III, including the introduction of basic concepts of translating and interpreting from English into Japanese and from Japanese into English and the reading of literary texts in Japanese.
The novel as a genre. Origins of prose fiction, theory of the novel, and representative readings of novels from the sixteenth through the twentieth centuries will be included.
An investigation of Western literary and artistic interpretations of the Bible, its narratives, characters, and themes.
A review of history of HanZi, Chinese characters, and how they were adopted into Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese literature and culture. All materials will be read and discussed in the original language.
Readings in Vietnamese, Chu Nom, and modern Vietnamese.
Formal, philosophical, and thematic relationships between literature and one or more of the visual arts in a given period.
Formal, philosophical, and thematic relationships between literature and cinema.
A survey of major works of East Asian cinema from literary, historical, cultural, and interdisciplinary perspectives.
Introduction to African cinema as a prolongation of both oral and written African literature. An analysis of selected films shall reveal the usage of African "aesthetics of narration," which shall lead to a better understanding of the discourse of African literatures written in European…
Survey course presenting orality as major modus of literary and knowledge production in Africa. Presentation of the institutional carriers of orality (storytellers, etc.). Readings in English translation.
Drama as a genre from its beginnings to the present.
This course explores the connections that have defined the “Black and Green Atlantic” in culture, politics, race, and labor. An emerging field of study, “The Black and Green Atlantic” brings together work on the comparative dimensions of Black and Irish experiences in the Atlantic world that…
Modernism and postmodernism as literary movements, with reading of selected literature and criticism.
The major genres of Islamic literature and its principle concepts, covering Qur'anic, hadith, legal and political literature, philosophy, theology, historiography, hagiography, and poetry, emphasizing the Medieval period and mystical prose and poetry primarily in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish.…
Merging elements of comparative literature and cultural studies, this course examines culture and cultural products, including, but not restricted to, literature, media, art, sports, and mass communication. Particular attention will be given to the comparative analysis of race, ethnicity, gender…
Readings in major writers and works of nineteenth-century European and world literature.
The works of major modern East Central European writers, with some attention to representative cinema.
Selected readings of Chinese literature and literary criticism in the original language. Texts of various genres and from different periods of the Chinese literary tradition will be read and discussed in Chinese.
Selected readings of Japanese literature in the original language. Texts will vary, with focus on readings of works of literature and discussion of issues in literary criticism in Japanese.
Seminar focusing on specific topics in Yoruba language, culture, literature, or society.
The forms, relationships, and aesthetics of music and literature.
Embracing a comparative approach that begins by excavating the foundations of post colonial theory, this course analyzes cultural production emanating from or relating to three distinct geographic areas: Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. The course will explore the changing…
A survey of traditional and modern Chinese short prose focusing on literary texts in the original language. The course traces the development of short fiction and the essay in China.
Poetry, prose, and drama in traditional China and Japan. The works will be in English translation.
Poetry, prose, and drama in China and Japan from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The works will be in English translation.
The major/minor novelists and their works, especially those of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The novels are in English translation.
An examination of a variety of European and American literary and critical texts and films dealing with the Holocaust and its aftermath.
Analysis of comparative politics through the prism of film, literature, and essays/articles. Among the themes covered are: Reason, Modernity, and Political Development; Revolution; Totalitarianism; The Glory of War; Women/Children and Poverty in the Developing World; Labor Relations; and…
An introduction to the evolution of Chinese film in its cultural, literary and historical context. It examines moderization, cultural conflict, war, revolution, and gender roles against a backdrop of Chinese history and politics.
An interdisciplinary study of language use, text analysis, and evaluation. The course will provide students with the ability to investigate and evaluate structural features of language and to identify the strategies used by different writers based on style and cultural backgrounds.
The role of language and culture in the formation of philosophical assumptions about gender differentiation in society.
Exploration of creative works by younger Africans whose primary socialization took place in Europe (Great Britain, France, Germany) and in the United States. Their contribution to African culture as well as to Western cultural life in the Western World.
African literature from its ancient oral traditions to the European colonial period based on works of African authors written in English and English translations of the African works.
African literature since the independence of the African people from European colonial rule.
Survey of modern African literatures in French and/or Portuguese language with focus on the novel.
Individual study, reading, or projects under the direction of a project director.
Individual study, reading, or projects under the guidance of a project director.
Individual research in the major field or in a closely related field under the guidance of a project director.
Research while enrolled for a master's degree under the direction of faculty members.
Advanced supervised experience in an applied setting. This course may not be used to satisfy a student's approved program of study.
A multiple-instructor course for graduate students in Comparative Literature introducing the range of literatures and critical approaches which characterize the discipline and the department.
Thesis writing under the direction of the major professor.
Specific literary period from an international perspective, with emphasis on theoretical problems in periodization and the relationship of literature to other cultural institutions.
Major genre, the epic in the literatures of Europe and America, with particular attention to recent developments in genre theory.
The problems and principles of literary translation, with emphasis on the practice of translation.
The subject of this Special Topics course changes on a semester-basis depending upon instructor. Please see specific semester description.
CMLT 8250
Graduate Seminar on Transnational Literatures
The semester divides into three parts. We begin with a survey of the work of some of the most influential theorists of nationality, transnationality, and cultural production over the past thirty years––Benedict Anderson,…
Literary criticism from Classical Antiquity through the mid-eighteenth century with attention to the theoretical issues and assumptions underlying the specific critical problems.
Literary criticism from the late eighteenth century to the present. Particular attention will be paid to the theoretical issues and assumptions underlying the specific critical problems under investigation.
Literary theory and critical method, as exemplified by diverse figures from a number of differing national and linguistic cultures.
Intellectual trends in their East Central European inflection. The philosophical and ideological underpinnings of the East Central European aesthetic and sociological thought and expression.
Models of reality implicit in "scientific" and "literary" texts.
Major 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century tracts on aesthetic theory, mainly drawn from the German philosophical tradition. In-depth study of such concepts as beauty, the sublime, sensate knowledge, aestheticism, aesthetic ideology, the anti-aesthetic, and the end of art, against the background of…
Introduction to the literary, cultural, aesthetic, and philosophical theories of the Frankfurt School (first-, second-, and third-generation theorists). Examines the main tenets of this tradition, places these theories in a comparative context, and explores the after-effects of Critical Theory…
The relationships between literature and philosophy, and in the philosophical issues that literature examines.
A problem in structuralism, poststructuralism, feminism, psychoanalysis, Marxism, New Historicism, gay and lesbian studies, postmodernism, postcolonialism, or cultural studies; or of a major literary theorist.
Independent reading with regular conferences and reports, in some aspects of comparative literature.
Research while enrolled for a doctoral degree under the direction of faculty members.
Dissertation writing under the direction of the major professor.
See if and when courses are offered in a given semester via our downloadable course schedule.
Spring 2023
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